Youichi Imamura
Youichi Imamura (今村陽一, Imamura Yôichi, 11 May 1976, Yamanashi) is a Japanese professional drifting driver, currently competing in the D1 Grand Prix series for team OTG MotorSports and Falken w/ Pentronas.
| Youichi Imamura | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Japan |
| Born | May 11, 1976 Kai, Yamanashi Prefecture |
| D1 Grand Prix career | |
| Debut season | 2001 |
| Current team | OTG MotorSports and Falken w/ Pentronas |
| Former teams | M7 BOSS SGC w/ Dunlop, Auto Produce Boss with Potenza, Top Secret with ORC, A'PEXi, I.C.B.M. |
| Wins | 13 |
| Championship titles | |
| 2003 2009 2010 2011 | 4 |
He has always enjoyed driving, so drifting was a natural thing for him. His other passion is flowers as his parents ran a florist business and he has always helped them out. So he has always known that he would be a florist, when he is not drifting he is working in a florists in Yamanashi called Silky House. His favourite time of the week is when he and his wife drive out to collect stock, Sometimes he cannot make it as he is at a photo shoot or a D1 event, so he uses the internet to check up.
He has been competing in the D1 Grand Prix series since it began in October 2000. His first successful year was the 2003 season where he won the series title in his A'PEXi Mazda RX-7 (FD3S). After A'PEXi left the series he switched to ORC and has been working with the team to improve the performance of the Nissan Fairlady Z coming in sixth in the 2007 series. In 2008, he switched to the newly formed team Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project, driving their Nissan Silvia S15 which was actually Yasuyuki Kazama's 2005 Championship car. He went on to win the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Series Championship in this car, making him the only driver with the most championship titles at four, the only driver to win titles in consecutive years, as well as the driver with the most wins at 15.
Like rival drifter who he was team mate to, Ryuji Miki, he also competed in the Net'z Cup, a one make series for the Toyota Altezza between 2005 and its final season in 2006,[1] his racing antics were documented twice on Video Option.
Complete drifting results
(key)
D1 Grand Prix
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | I.C.B.M. | Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 | EBS 1 |
NIK 6 |
BHH 8 |
EBS 5 |
NIK 2 |
2 | 66 | |||
| 2002 | A'PEXi | Toyota Altezza SXE10 | BHH TAN |
EBS TAN |
SGO TAN |
5 | 54 | |||||
| Mazda RX-7 FD3S | TKB 1 |
EBS 7 |
SEK 8 |
NIK 1 |
||||||||
| 2003 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | TKB 4 |
BHH 3 |
SGO 2 |
FUJ 1 |
EBS 1 |
SEK 16 |
TKB 2 |
1 | 106 | |
| 2004 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | IRW 16 |
SGO 6 |
EBS 6 |
APS |
ODB 2 |
EBS 1 |
TKB 1 |
3 | 78 | |
| 2005 | A'PEXi | Mazda RX-7 FD3S | IRW 2 |
ODB 9 |
SGO 5 |
APS 16 |
EBS 5 |
FUJ 16 |
TKB 1 |
3 | 68 | |
| 2006 | ORC with Top Secret | Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 | IRW 16 |
SGO 9 |
FUJ 8 |
APS TAN |
EBS |
SUZ |
FUJ 16 |
IRW 8 |
15 | 19 |
| 2007 | ORC with Top Secret | Nissan Fairlady Z Z33 | EBS DNQ |
FUJ 12 |
SUZ 3 |
SGO 10 |
EBS TAN |
APS 3 |
FUJ 4 |
6 | 51 | |
| 2008 | Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project | Nissan Silvia S15 | EBS 7 |
FUJ 14 |
SUZ 5 |
OKY 1 |
APS 4 |
EBS |
FUJ |
3 | 70 | |
| 2009 | Auto Produce Boss with Potenza D-1 Project | Nissan Silvia S15 | EBS 2 |
APS 1 |
OKY 6 |
OKY 8 |
EBS 4 |
EBS 6 |
FUJ 3 |
FUJ 4 |
1 | 130 |
| 2010 | M7 Boss SGC with Dunlop | Nissan Silvia S15 | ODB 1 |
APS 5 |
FUJ 1 |
OKY 3 |
EBS 6 |
EBS 1 |
FUJ 13 |
1 | 122 |
Sources
References
- (in Japanese) BATTLEGEAR.NET レース＆イベントレポート
| Preceded by Katsuhiro Ueo |
D1 Grand Prix Champion 2003 |
Succeeded by Ryuji Miki |